Why do Sales People have Such a Bad Rep?

I was in sales back in 2001. I was calling into meeting planners at Fortune 500 companies within a 300 mile radius of Atlanta. I would cold call for hours. It was hard. Really hard. I started in November - one month after 9/11. ALL of the companies I called had a freeze on meetings and events. The whole industry sat in suspended animation for a time.  And I was a green production sales person. I had a sales manager who told me every Monday morning that I was going to lose my job if I didn't sell something soon.  It was high pressure.  This is the climate for most sales organizations within corporate America.  No one wants to hear from a high pressured sales person who's trying like mad to make a sale.

I get it though, the company NEEDED me to make a sale. We needed the cash to keep the doors open.  The profits from any business that I brought in would go to feeding the company, keeping the lights on, phones ringing, pay the rent etc.

Social commerce is different.  The whole culture is based around sharing.  Yesterday I was at the gymnastic studio and watched as a mom complimented another on her shoes. the Shoe-wearing mom pulled out her phone and shared a website for the Complimenting mom to be able to get a pair of the cool shoes herself.  That's sharing. When you have something cool that you want to share with your friends, something that you love and you know your friend will love.

The same concept applies to social commerce. Those of us who choose this profession do it because we have come upon a product that we absolutely believe in, 100%. We don't have a boss telling us to sell something or else find another job. Rather we have a passion for sharing and helping people.  We believe in our heart of hearts that we have something that can really help our prospect.  

The problem is this pesky sales person stereotype-- which is a stereotype because it's largely true. When someone who is in the social commerce business contacts a prospect, the prospect brings all her bias against sales people against her friend, her mind closes and she gets on the defensive.  She bars herself against anything cool that her social commerce friend may have to share with her.  It's a bummer.  For both parties.

What if we were to keep an open mind? What if we were to listen to what our social commerce friends had to say? What if we were open to helping our friends to build their business? What if we changed our perspective to the whole sales process?  Your friend is contacting you, and I am contacting you, because of a deeply held belief that I have something from which you would greatly benefit. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the product or business isn't for you, but if you hear me out, maybe you know someone who would benefit. Someone who has a real need.  You may be the messenger for someone that could change their life. Don't let your bias stand in the way of being truly useful.